Mud Volcano in Indonesia to Erupt Until 2037

Workers attempting to control the flow of mud from the mud volcano 'Lusi' on May 29, 2010 in the subdistrict of Porong in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia. (Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

The world’s largest mud volcano, located in Indonesia, will continue erupting for more than two decades, media reports this week say.

The volcano, which first erupted back in 2006, will continue for 26 more years, according to a report by the BBC. When it first erupted, it was releasing more than 180,000 cubic meters (6,400,000 cubic feet) of mud in a day.

The Sidoarjo, East Java volcano, also known as “Lusi,” will keep spewing out mud until 2037. Since it first erupted five years ago, it has displaced 13,000 households.

"Our estimate is that it will take 26 years for the eruption to drop to a manageable level and for Lusi to turn into a slow bubbling volcano," team leader Richard Davies, a professor of Earth sciences at Durham University, told AFP.

According to reports, the researchers used computer-simulated models to come up with their figure.

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"In the middle of the lake, or the volcano, is a vent that is 50 meters (164 feet) wide, but there are 166 other vents that have popped up over the last four-plus years," Davies added, reported AFP.

He noted that since 2008, researchers have improved their methodology in determining the time frame.

“For two or three years there was a lot of debate about what caused it,” he told BBC. "I think there were a lot of people involved in working [out] what happened, so now we have seen the natural progression from wanting to know what caused it to wanting to know how long it will last."

The cause of the volcanic eruption in 2006 is debatable. Some think that a 6.3-magnitude earthquake caused it, and some think that it was due to drilling a well in the area.

"There is a lot of evidence now that shows it was caused by drilling; there was a blowout that was not controlled," Davies told the BBC, adding that he supports the drilling theory.